Month: July 2014

This morning was our last run for this vacation and we decided to go for it.. We managed to break the 10+ minutes on our 1,5k run and finished on 09:54 – the first kilometer in 06:49 which was an improvement with 40 seconds. Yeah!

Last night there was another thunderstorm and the lightning was really awesome. It is so spectacular to see out here where there is no city or high buildings around.

Since we have worked
hard and managed to complete everything we had planned for this vacation, we treated the family to go to the go-kart tracks and drive for a bit.

After the race it was time for lunch.. so we decided to continue with the luxury life for a bit longer and went to Källa Glassgård for extra large super delicious ice creams.

And – if this wasn’t enough – tonight we are going to Sandviks Kvarn Restaurant together with my uncle and his family and maybe my dads cousin with family for dinner. What a way to finish a great vacation – and we still have one more day in paradise before it is time to pack and head back to the city.

A big thunderclap woke me up early this morning so I went up and unplugged all our electronic equipment.  It rained for a few hours and all the water barrels are full now.

Then the sun came out and it has been a warm and humid day – very hard to get any work done. We needed lots of breaks in the shade.

Now it looks like the storm is coming back again. No rain yet and with any luck it might miss us. My newly painted wood would be better off anyway.

Chicken on the menu tonight.  My plan is to grill it – we will see if the weather allows it..

For the second day in a row we managed to run a little bit faster than we have before this summer. Still, no results to brag about, but it feels good to actually improve slowly but
surely.

Today it has been really nice weather all day and 23C in the ocean – but thunder is on its way and we need to get the roof finished before the heavy rainfall hits us. So, we have a lot of work before bedtime.

Tonight we are enjoying our own potatoes together with pork cooked on the grill. I have set the table outside and prepared all the veggies – dinner will be ready in a few. No run tomorrow – might be some indoor work though depending on the rain.

We miss grandma and grandpa and my sister – but we are really having a great vacation so far! Life is pretty good!

Monday .. last week.. 🙁 Fortunately we have another week after that to enjoy at our other paradise. But days like this I don’t ever want to go back to town. I really find peace and serenity here.

Did good this morning – ran my mile at a new best time for the summer. I dread tomorrow – my body will not approve of running again. But it will have to. Monday-Tuesday rest Wednesday then run again Thursday-Friday. Third week in a row. The scale doesn’t smile yet – but maybe if I would measure myself instead I would see a difference.

Rain in paradise.. can’t complain, really, since it has been the best week ever! But, this morning it started to rain when we went for our morning swim in the ocean before breakfast.

So, we decided to go for a drive up to Kvarngården at the north part of Öland and have waffles for lunch. It was a nice little trip and something to do before Anne had to catch her bus back to the city. Now she is on her way and we are relaxing in the house.

Someone is coming to take a look at my drop-leaf table that I put out in an ad for sale. Let’s hope they like it – good for them and good for us! I have really loved that table but now it is time for someone else to enjoy it.

 

A great day.. just been lazy and spending time in the sun. We have taken two long walks today – first 4k and then 6k after dinner. The landscape just north from us is quite unusual with all its limestone quarries.

The temperature has come down right below 30C so it isn’t quite as hot as it has been the last couple of days. Maybe we can sleep better tonight.

We bbq tonight and sat outside and enjoyed a lovely dinner. One more week here in paradise – let’s hope the good weather stays for a bit longer, even though they have promised rain soon. But, I guess it would be good for the yard.

Sitting in my chair enjoying the summer. My BFF is on her way down here for the weekend. I hope she will get some quality time off from work and be able to relax and regain some energy. Go for a morning swim. Watch the sunset during the evenings. And chat chat about everything and nothing like we have for the last 40 years or so.

Last night was amazing – the kids swam out to the floating pontoon and we managed to take some cool photos.
If you re-open this page a few times you’ll see that I have several different headers – one of them is one of three of the kids standing on the pontoon. I liked the way that one turned out.

Today we have another names day to celebrate – Kristina. My first name and my niece Karins’ second name. My grandmother was also a Kristina so we have always had strawberry cake (when we could get strawberries) on this day my whole life. And of course – we put up the flag too! Any chance we get!

Today it has been really warm – it was 32C in the livingroom when it was time for dinner so we had it outside in the shade instead. The water was crystal clear and a lovely 22C – lots of jellyfish (the harmless ones) too!

Work-wise we have been as busy as we managed in the hot weather – painted the boards twice (two of them green – two of them grey), worked on the roof, worked on my sisters’ porch. Baked a cake and brownies for the coffee. Now time in my chair and relaxing for a bit.

 

This morning my parents left our paradise. A strange feeling. I haven’t been down here much without them. Hardly ever actually. And now we are going to be here for 10 more days without them. I hope they will have a great journey around Sweden and that they are able to see all the old friends they have planned to see.

We have managed to get a lot done today – our porch is finished (bought more wood), we have electricity in our livingroom (finally), we have started on the renovation project of our roof and I have primed all the barge boards for our house.

So – tonight we treated ourselves a visit to Lammet & Grisen – the classic old restaurant from 1969 on the north part of Öland. They charge you an entrance to the restaurant and then you can eat all you want. You pay extra for beverages and desserts.

On the way home we had to stop to buy groceries, but the upside to that is that we don’t have to do that tomorrow. Now I am going to enjoy a glass of white and watch the sunset.

 

Busy day – the guys got a lot of work done! I now have window moulding around a couple of windows (they didn’t have enough at the store). I have almost a complete porch (same thing there – ran out of wood). I have a lovely pergola for my new plant to climb on. And – a door stopper to prevent the front door from being caught by the wind.

The kids picked blackberries and baked a great cake.

We bbq loin of pork tonight and treated ourselves potatoes we have produced in our yard! The best luxury! And in a bit we have another amazing sunset to look forward to. Life is pretty good.